Knowledge, attitudes and practices of rural and suburban areas about brucellosis in Central Bosnia

Introduction: Brucellosis is a zoonosis classified as one of the most important neglected zoonoses in the world, especially in low and middle-income countries with livestock farming represented. In recent years, an increased incidence of brucellosis has been reported in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in the Central Bosnia Canton (CBC) region. In the CBC region, the first case of the disease was registered at the end of 2002 in the municipality of Novi Travnik. In the period 2003-2012, 539 cases in humans and 7508 infected animals were registered. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the risk of brucellosis in the population living in rural and suburban areas because human behavior plays a significant role in the spread of brucellosis. Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted in selected rural and suburban areas of the CBC in the period from October 2023 to January 2024. In this study, 117 respondents participated with 60 respondents (51.3%) from rural areas and 57 (48.7%) from suburban areas. Results: The respondents from rural areas showed better knowledge with an average score of 69.86 ± 11.99% than the respondents from suburban areas with an average score of 59.21 ± 11.86 (p < 0.0001). Looking at the average scores of the attitudes of the same regions, it can be seen that the respondents from the suburban region have a better attitude with 55.56 ± 23.64% (p < 0.0001) than the respondents from the rural region. In practice, the suburban region scored better with an average of 50.50 ± 18.65% than the rural region with 37.08 ± 15.02% (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The One Health approach, which involves collaboration between veterinary and public health professionals, is the key to successful brucellosis control.